Quick update....

I'm full-time at Highgate Cross now. Just wanted to shout that out to everyone! God is so good. I can't quite comprehend the idea of getting paid to do something I love....it's pretty amazing. I really like the folks there, too - they're great. We had a nice little welcome lunch today at The Cellar Bistro in downtown Wheaton - yummy!

I know there were a lot of prayers going up for Chase and I in this transition, this big area being one of them. Prayers have been answered very affirmatively - and I thank you!!!

Have a fantastical weekend!

Shannon

Apartments, friends, hikes, jobs....a busy week!

The title says it. It's been a week or so since the last post, and here I am, trying to play catch-up for us! We moved into our apartment, Chase and I each got to visit with good college friends, we participated in the Hike for Hesed (not too late to donate, by the way!), and I had one....two....three interviews in the intervening time, with another one tomorrow. Oh, and I got a job, too. : )

First, the apartment. Our complex is great - lots of great amenities. The apartment itself also is really nice - fresh paint and carpet, etc. It was smaller than we thought it was going to be (a bit of a shock for our move-in day, as we reconfigured our planned furniture layout in our minds and downsized a bit), but it's really nice, and I think it'll be great to be a little simpler in our possessions (though someone please remind me of that when it's the night before our storage unit move-out and I'm pulling my hair out, please!).

I got to visit with the lovely Sally Friday night for some good girl talk, tea/coffee, and a game of chess, while Chase saw his old friend Dan from wrestling - good times were had by all. It's nice to live in a place where you already have dear ones nearby!

Saturday, we participated in the Hike for Hesed - a three-mile awareness and fundraising walk for Hesed House, my internship employer senior year at Wheaton, and a place near and dear to my heart.

 A three-mile walk from the shelter/resource center to the Aurora Transportation Center and back (a walk many of their guests make daily).

Hubby and I, on a beautiful Saturday morning.

 Hot dogs and hamburgers afterward - all completely underwritten by generous community members. Every penny of the $40,000 raised went right to direct services for the homeless.

 

They were running a big capital campaign for this center - an old rubber factory turned shopping mall of resources - when I was an intern. I love seeing it up and running! Employment assistance, addiction counseling, educational aid....you name it!

Needless to say, great event, great organization. : )

I've been blessed to have several interviews over the last couple weeks. Most exciting of all - remember that freelancing interview I mentioned? Well, I'm now helping out part-time at Highgate Cross + Cathey, a Wheaton-based, family-owned marketing firm. For one, you have to love the Tube references. (I miss London!) For another, everyone who works there is great, and I've enjoyed my first two days thoroughly. I think I'll both learn a lot working here and be able to do things that I already know and love - a phenomenal combination, in my opinion. : )

My interview tomorrow is for part-time blog-writing/editing, so who knows? I might just have my own little freelancing gig going - without even expecting it. Funny how life works, eh?

Chase and I just came back from a lecture at the college, by Dr. Paul Collier (sponsored, of course, by the Hastert Center). It was fantastic. I love my poli-sci degree, but economics has never been my strong suit, and he gave a fascinating talk on resource development in Africa that was strong, clear, and from an ethical standpoint (never hurts, right?). I also got to say hello to some beloved profs, and meet a few of Chase's (that I'd seen from a distance, but never known).

That all being said, it's late, and I get to go to work in the morning, so peace out! ; )

Shannon

"Dire measures" a smokescreen?

An excerpt from a recent e-newsletter from Sojourners:

What is the lie today? How's this? "Some people have to be sacrificed on the altar of economic health." Sounds reasonable, huh? In the midst of dire times, dire measures must be taken to get our economic health back on track. Yes, this does sound reasonable, but it's a lie. - Lisa Sharon Harper

Just some food for thought, as every new budget battle continues to leave the majority of its casualties in the human services sector and other expenses continually slide under the radar. Business as usual *and insert a sigh too deep to adequately express in print*....

Shannon

Just wanted to share....

We found the camera cord! Woo! I just wanted to share this picture from my last day of work at UGM:

The majority of the staff and volunteers from the Motors, plus folks from the main Mission and the stores and employee family members....a lot of people! There was an amazing going-away BBQ, and I wanted to get a group picture, as I didn't have many from my time here. Well, we took one group one, and then this one....arms held out with "we'll miss you!"

I felt loved. : )

Shannon

Old friends (yay), nasty traffic jams (boo), and yummy pitas (yay again)

Happy three-day-weekend to all!

Well, the potential job I mentioned last time didn't pan out, I discovered yesterday. Disappointing, yes - it was a sad afternoon - but I'll keep pushing on! I actually landed another interview the night before (to be held next week) for potential freelancing with a marketing firm, which is very exciting - we'll see what happens! The perfect job is out there somewhere (right?). : )

I visited the college on Thursday, as well as went into the city later on. It was a bit surreal, pretending to be a student and wandering campus (no one really does a double take at me yet, except maybe when I wore my outdated "first night football game shirt!" the visit before, betraying my age). I visited Career Services to get a little advice and some leads, and then visited friends in the OCO, the registrar's office, and the poli-sci office, which was great. It was so wonderful to catch up with people - Sue and Cathy in the OCO, Peggy, Lynda, and now Jan (from PSIR!) in the registrar's office, and Dr. Black and Dr. Hawkins in PSIR. Being here, it can alternate between feeling like so much time has passed, and yet none at all....I alternate between lapsing into complete, bittersweet nostalgia and shaping a new, different life at the same time. It's an odd line to walk, emotionally, but I think I'm figuring it out.

As for the Chicago venture....I think I'm an even bigger fan of public transportation now!

• The good: going to the Paul Mitchell School (hair design) and saving a lot of money on a new haircut and highlights.
• The bad: getting a $50 parking ticket while inside (negating my savings!).
• The ugly: getting stuck at an intersection a block away for 25 minutes (first in line, no less). Cars kept pulling out every which way when they shouldn't and getting stuck in the middle of the intersection....every time I had a green light, there was a car sitting crossways in front of me, inches away. And as soon as my light turned green, everyone behind me would start laying on their horns, leaning out their windows, shaking fists (and most likely middle fingers), and screaming....at me. Really? *Sigh* Apparently I need to drive a Hummer to get around, so I can just plow through everyone! ; )

Needless to say, by the time I got out of there, I was pretty stressed out....and my wonderful hubby took me to Naf Naf Grill to comfort me.

This place is great. I love Middle Eastern food for so many reasons, but one is its freshness - it doesn't seem nearly so processed. Naf Naf had fresh-baked pitas filled with moist chicken, fresh cool vegetables, hummus, tahini sauce....Everyone knows how much I love sauces and condiments, particularly my ketchup, but there's something particularly great about a good, made-from-scratch, not-uber-processed sauce mixed with such fresh ingredients. Five stars for Naf Naf Grill! There's my Naperville find for the day.

 

Yummy!

Shannon

 

Stewardship of Resources

I wrote a paper for Intermediate macroeconomics this last week on "God's purpose for economic activity" and I wanted to share a few of my thoughts from that paper.  I am addressing this to those in America’s economy who view consumption as a lifestyle and worldview, but who also realize that God is the sole redeemer of their lives.  One cannot serve both God and money, so I am pressing for transformation in the way that we live our lives.  I have and am personally struggling with these issues, so I don’t want any of you to think that I am saying this as if I have already figured everything out.  These are my thoughts and please treat them as such- a man trying to cope with the world around him and make sense of life.

God redeems us through the power of Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit.  So, how is it that economic activity can play a role in God’s purpose? 

God created humans with all of our needs for order, economically and otherwise.  So part of His redemption is through the processes that He created in us to use.

God at one and the same time upholds a given political or economic system, since some such system is required to support human life; condemns that system insofar as it is destructive to full human actualization; and presses for its transformation into a more human order.         (Wink 1992, 67)

  God is a holistic redeemer, He doesn’t just redeem our souls, but He also redeems our bodies and our minds.  So it is with these facts in mind that one can think on the purpose that God has set forth for economic activity.  I posit that God uses economic activity to shape how we view His Kingdom and the work that He has set for us to do.  It is our job to use economic activity to shape the world around us for the furtherance of the Kingdom, and to push for transformation and redemption individually, as a community, as a society, and globally.  We must be using the resources that God gave to us for His furtherance to help the broken, the suffering, the poor, the widows, and the orphans.  We should not gain capital for more capital and the sole purpose of more wealth and more comfortable lives, but we also should not shun money and the gaining of capital across the board, because it can help the broken if used correctly.

We must use the systems that are in place so as to help others and maintain ourselves, while at the same time be consistently and continually calling out for change in the ways that the system is incorrect.   Personal maintenance of funds and capital can cover savings, needs, and some comforts, but this category should not encompass one’s whole cash flow.  We don’t need another flat-screen to distract us from ourselves; we need to help build community and push for relationships amongst our circle of friends, family, peers, and loved ones.  This is not to say that we should throw away all of our material possessions, but it is to say that we should consume more wisely and view our budgets as a stewardship of resources given to us by a caring and loving God.

And so I say to you, try to transform one part of your consumption today to help the lives of others tomorrow, and I challenge you to sustain that transformation throughout your life.

Chase